Notes About The Poem
image from boomertechtalk.com
ELEGY TO THE ROTARY PHONE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its dial spins like a clock unwound,
each number a moon,
each click landline bound.
Long live that landline~
its coiled tongue, its stubborn whine,
the way it clung to the wall like a vine,
rooted deep in the plaster’s spine.
Operator, oh operator,
can you hear the hum in the wire?
The ghost of a voice, half-laugh, half-fire,
static lullabies, crackling pyre.
Long live the landline~
the weight of the receiver,
the pause before hello,
the way we listened
to breath, to silence,
to the miles between us
stretched thin as a filament.
Now the signals fly, untethered,
but the cord was a vein,
and the ring~
oh, the ring was a heartbeat
without a name.
you may read the related memoir vignette at: poetrysoup.com/short_stories/long_live_the_landline_13674
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